OPP CHOPPER SCOURS PLOTS FOR POT

Plentiful rainfall produces marijuana plants 'tall as the corn,'
police say

With a wet summer providing prime conditions for growing pot, the OPP
drug eradication program is in full swing, patrolling Southwestern
Ontario from the sky in a helicopter.

Staff Sgt. Patti Dobbin of the OPP drug enforcement section displayed
about 1,500 marijuana plants yesterday seized in the last couple days.

The biggest seizure this summer from one plot is 300 plants, said
Dobbin -- small considering police have seized 15,000 in a single
site in the past.

Plentiful rainfall has made for a good crop, but it's also helping
police find the stuff.

"The plants are as tall as the corn," Dobbin said.

The annual OPP pot harvest usually nets millions of dollars in
illegal plants. Police seized $10.9 million worth of weed in 2006 and
last year snagged $15.2 million.

Police encourage farmers and passersby to report suspicious activity,
including abandoned cars in remote areas, people not known to the
area carrying cutting instruments and strangers roaming fields at
night with flashlights or buckets.

Police also urged anyone coming across a marijuana grow area to use
caution.

"We really want to caution the public . . . to call in the experts
for safety reasons," said OPP Sgt. Dave Rektor.

Said Dobbin: "There are typically a wide range of growers, ranging from mom
and pop operations with two to three plants, to plants that will be linked
with organized crime."